Saturday, November 12, 2005

What do you want from the Great and Mighty Oz, Bertie?

There's a consistency to how cowardly An Taoiseach Blandie Ahern is that is almost reassuring.

Liz O'Donnell, a high profile member of the junior coalition partner in the Irish government, delivered a speech in which she criticized the Catholic Church's stranglehold on the institutions of the Irish state. She called for greater - if not total - separation of Church and State in this country by ending the deference to and fear of the Church, which were overriding factors in prolonging the revolting and depraved abuse of children by priests.

It was a brave, timely speech that expressed a lot of the anger and disgust that the majority of people in this country feel and think today. Elements within the Church abused their position horrendously and inflicted untold suffering upon too many children. Higher powers in the Church then saw fit to cover it all up and move paedohiles around to wreck more destruction wherever they went. It was an active, willing criminal conspiracy.

When the scandal broke in Ireland, the government, under Ahern and with the approval of O'Donnell's party, made a deal with the Church whereby the taxpayer would foot the majority of the bill for compensation for abuse victims and the church would make a one-off payment of €128m. The taxpayer could end up paying up to €2billion.

People are profoundly angry at the Church - and mad at themselves too for allowing ourselves to be kept under the foot of the Church for so long. So if a politcian articulates the rage that the country is feeling, it should be welcomed and supported.

But no. The Prime Minister of our country not only disowned O'Donnell's remarks but in doing so demonstrated the type of softly-softly, sycophantic approach to the Church that O'Donnell correctly identified as a problem.

Bertie has always been Everyman to Everyone; decision-making is not his strong-point nor is showing strong, unambiguous leadership or, for that matter, doing anything that might make him unpopular with anyone. Just what you need in a Prime Minister.

He might trust the Church completely to investigate itself and self-regulate in order to implement the change that is drastically needed to ensure that this type of abuse never happens again. I certainly don't nor should anyone else. The Church, afterall, is involved in a cover-up that leads all the way to Il Papa in the Vatican - the supreme guardian of the Catholic faith who has yet to make a statement on the Ferns report by the way. So you'll forgive me if I don't share the Taoiseach's faith in the Church.

Maybe some day, the Cowardly Bertie will be blown to the magical world of Oz, where he can journey to the the great Wizard himself in the Emerald City and ask for some courage.

"Life is sad, believe me Missy,When you're born to be a sissyWithout the vim and verve.

But I could change my habits,Nevermore be scared of rabbitsIf I only had the nerve.

I'm afraid there's no denyin'I'm just a dandylionA fate I don't deserve.

But I could show my prowess,Be a lion not a mowessIf I only had the nerve.

Oh, I'd be in my stride,a king down to the coreOh, I'd roar the way I never roared beforeAnd then I'd rrrwoofAnd roar some more.

I would show the dinosaurusWho's king around the fores'A king they'd better serve.

Why with my regal beezer,I could be another CaesarIf I only had the nerve".

About Me

I'm 28, from Kilkenny originally and living in Dublin for the past six years.
I graduated with an MA in Journalism from DIT in 2006.
I work as a feature writer for the Irish Independent and the Irish Examiner.
I worked in the Irish Daily Star for 18 months as a news and features subeditor, before going full-time freelance in January 2008.
Over the years I've also reviewed books for The Irish Times, as well wording it up for Gay Community News (GCN), the Sunday Tribune, the Irish Daily Mail, The Event Guide, The Dubliner and The Spanner, as well as UCD Today and UCD Connections magazines.
I'm occasionally known to pop up on The Last Word on Today FM and on various shows on NewsTalk 106-108FM, such as Tom Dunne, Lunchtime with Eamon Keane, The Right Hook, Culture Shock, and Weekend Blend, and have also made censors nervous on Spin, Phantom and RTE 2FM on Dave Fanning's show. I've made some inroads into TV, appearing on The Morning Show with Sybil and Martin, and Midday (pre-Sisterhood takeover), both on TV3. Watch out Tubridy!
You can contact me at declan.cashin@gmail.com